Conveyer mechanism for handling grains



No. 752,688. PATENTED FEB. 23, 1904. E. M. KRAMER.

GONVEYER MECHANISM FOR HANDLING GRAINS.

APPLIOATION FILED DBO. 22, 1902. N0 MODEL. 4 SHEETS-:SHEET 1.

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No. 752,688. PATENTED FEB. 23, 1904.

E. M. KRAMER.

GONVEYER MEGHANISMPOR HANDLING GRAINS.

APPLIOATION FILED DEC. 22, 1902.

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GONVEYER MECHANISM FOR HANDLING GRAINS.

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H I in llll INV NTUEL mil WI. Yummy i UNITED STATES Patented February 23, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

EMIL M. KRAMER, OF CISSNAPARK, ILLINOIS.

CONVEYE R MECHANISM FOR HANDLING GRAINS- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 752,688, dated. February 23, 1904.

Application filed December 22, 1902. Serial No. 136,286. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EMIEM. KRAMER, acitizen of the United States, residing at Cissnapark, in the county of Iroquois and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Conveyer Mechanism for Handling Grains; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the, art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention pertains to means for elevating grain and distributing it into bins, cribs, and the like.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a conveyer over the top of the bins which can be shifted backward and forward, so that its delivery ends may be placed over the desired bin to be filled.

A further object is to provide a simple and eflicient apparatus for this purpose that will require a minimum of power to operate it.

A still further object is to so arrange the driving mechanism that the conveyer may be shifted at will without interference with such mechanism.

In the drawings herewith presented and which form a part of this application, Figure 1 is a plan view of a building, showing its bins and my apparatus arranged above it, the roof being removed from the rafters. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of the building, also showing my apparatus therein. 'Fig. 3 is an end View of the building, showing the elevator and hopper therefor and the inclosure for the same. Fig. 4 is a plan view in detail of a portion of the operating mechanism in connection with the conveyer. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the same.

In the figures, A indicates the four walls of a building containing a series of bins created by inner partitions B B. The usual elevator for carrying grain up to the tops of the bins is indicated by C, its lower end having the hopper or boot D, into which the grain is dumped from the wagon. Said elevator rises to beneath the roof of the building, and its head deposits the elevated grain into a conveyer. The power for driving the elevator is applied at the bottom through the belt E and pulley F,

fall into the desired bin. Other arrangements have also been employed; but they are bulky and require too much power to drive them.

This is well enough understood by those acquainted with such apparatus not to require further description here, and I will therefore direct attention to the device I desire to use. This consists of the conveyer-trough of the form described, (indicated at G in Fig. 2,) which may be provided at each end with a downwardly-extending spout, as shown. The conveyer-body thus formed is mounted by wheels H H on a track I I. (Shown in the several figures, and particularly in Fig. 3.) The said track is suspended by means of suitable hangers J from the rafters of the roof above, these being placed at intervals, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Being so mounted it will be seen that the conveyer can be shifted from end to end of the building, so that any desired bin may be filled. The gearing employed to operate the conveyer is shown in Figs. 4 and 5. A plainbelt is used to carry the grain or earcorn, and such belt passes over a roller L at each end, as indicated in Fig. 2 in broken lines.

The belt is designed to drag upon the bottom] M of the conveyer-body, which terminates at each roller, as will be understood. The top of the conveyer-body is open, so that the grain can be delivered to the belt at any place along its length, and although the spouts at each end are shown closed this is not necessary. The

third, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 5 in broken and unbroken lines. The shaft Q, carrying the middle roller or pulley, also carries a gearwheel S of the beveled form, with which meshes two similar gear-wheels T and U, which are carried on a shaft V on the frame 0 at right angles to the shaft Q. The two latter wheels are loose on the shaft, so that while one of them may be driving the wheel S the other will revolve also without hindrance or without harming the parts in any way. A shifting sleeve W is held to revolve with the said shaftV by a key X, a keyway (not shown) being cut entirely through said sleeve, so that it will have free movement along such shaft.

The hubs of the wheels T U are notched to take projecting lugs Y on the said sleeve, one of which is shown in engagement with the hub of the wheel U. A lever 2 is pivoted to the frame O, its usual forked end being pivoted to the sleeve W and the other (not shown) constituting a handle by which such lever may be shifted to shift the sleeve. Aspringcatch is .shown at 3 to enter the notches 4: in a plate 5,

secured to the frame, thus providing means for holding the sleeve in engagement with either wheel or disengaged from both. A sprocket-Wheel 6 is secured on the'end of the shaft V, and power is applied thereto through a chain 7 from a wheel 8 at the elevator-head. The power from the elevator-boot is, as a matter of course, transmitted to the gearing above through the elevator-belt.

At 9, Figs. 1, 4, and 5, are lugs secured to the side of the conveyer-body, through which is inserted a spring-plunger 10, whose lower end enters a hole 11 in the rail. This device is employed to lock the conveyer in any one of its several positions. However, other means may be used for accomplishing the same end, it being understood that some such arrangement must be employed in order to prevent the conveyer-body shifting on the rails when the power is driving the belt.

In operation theconveyeras, for instance, in Fig. 2-is located to fill the first bin, and in this position the pin 10 is inserted in the rail. The-machinery is then started to elevate the grain, and since the grain must be deposited toward the left of the elevator the,

conveyer-belt must run toward the left. Now since the sprocket-wheel 6 will revolve in a direction away from the observer as viewed in Fig. t if the clutch or sleeve W be in engagement with the gear T the driving-pulley Q will be driven toward the left, thus pulling the under stretch of the belt K from left to right, while the upper stretch will move from right to left and deliver the grain thrown thereon into the bin at the left, as indicated in Fig. 2. The broken lines in said figure show the various positions of the conveyerbody on its track. It will be seen that any oneof the positions places the delivery ends of the conveyer-body over two bins, so that after one of them is filled the mere reversal of the driving mechanism will operate to fill the other. The spring-plunger 10 described serves to lock the device at any position here shown. After the bin at the left of Fig. 2 is filled the fifth one from that end just beneath the spout of the conveyer-body may be filled by throwing the lever 2 to the position shown in Fig. 4, so that the sleeve W engages the wheel U. This action reverses the direction of movement of the belt and carries the grain to the other end of the conveyer-body to fill said fifth bin. If it is desired to shift the conveyer-body to a new position, the lever 2 is moved to locate the sleeve W midway between the wheels T and U, as shown in Fig. 5. This frees both said wheels, and although the shaft V revolves through the elevator and the chain 7 nothing moves but the sleeve W, which revolves with said shaft for the reasons already stated. Since the gearing is now free of the driving means, the conveyer-body may be shifted by withdrawing the spring-plunger l0 and pushing said conveyer-body along the track in the desired direction. In doing this the pulleys P Q, R, which are free, can revolve as the belt is pulled through them,'caused by the said movements of the conveyer-body. After reinserting the plunger 10 the lever 2 is moved to reengage the gears, and the work proceedsas before.

Evidently other forms and arrangement of the gearing may be employed that will accomplish the same desired ends as herein explained without departing from the spirit and intent of the invention.

In addition to being able to shift the conveyer-body in the direction of its length it may also be arranged to shift sidewise, so that other bins may be supplied-that is to say, if it be supposed that a partition ran through the middle of the building parallel with the sides A and the conveyer were arranged for a lateral movement then grain could be dumped into double the number of bins shown in the drawings.

Having thus described my invention, I

claim l. The combination with an elevator of a horizontally-disposed conveyer-body mounted for reciprocation beneath the discharge of said elevator, a carrier movable within said body and adapted todischarge the material therefrom and means operating beneath said body for moving said carrier to cause the discharge of the material therefrom substantially as described.

2. In a device of the character described, a receiving structure or storehouse, an elevator within said storehouse, a horizontally-disposed conveyer-body mounted for reciprocation beneath the discharge from said elevator, a carrier movable with said body and adapted to discharge the material therefrom, and operating means for said carrier supported in said ITO A storehouse beneath said body, substantially as described.

3. A grain-distributing mechanism comprising a horizontally-shiftable conveyer body V closed at each side to form a trough, a track for supporting the conveyer-body and along which it is shifted, a smooth flat belt occupying a flat position on the bottom and running between the sides of the conveyer-body, means for holding the conveyer in any position placed on the track and means for driving the conveyer-belt the same being located beneath the conveyer-body in line with the said belt and through which i the belt runs, motion being imparted to the said belt-driving means in either direction to carry the belt in one direc tion or the other as described.

4. A grain-distributing mechanism comprising the conveyer-body having the sides and bottom and adapted to shift in the direction of its length, atrack for carrying it, a smooth belt carried by the conveyerbody and adapted to lie flat in said conveyer on the bottom thereof between the sides, means for locating the conveyer on its track after adjustment thereon, means beneath the lower run of the belt for driving said belt and means for reversing the direction of movement of the belt for the purposes explained.

5. A grain-distributing mechanism for the purposes described comprising the conveyerbody having the sides and bottom, a roller, in each end of the conveyer the top of each being substantially flush with the upper surface of the bottom of the conveyer-body, a smooth belt running over the rollers and upon the said bottom for carrying grain to be deposited at either end of the conveyer-body, a track upon which the body is mounted to shift in either direction as set forth, means for 1ocating the conveyer in stationary manner after adjustment on the track, a series of pulleys beneath the conveyer through which the belt is adapted to run and by which it is driven and means for reversing the direction of movement of thebelt through said pulleys for the purposes explained.

6. A grain-distributing mechanism of the character set forth comprising a conveyerbody having sides and bottom said body adjustable in the direction of its length, a track by which it is supported, means for securing it in a desired position upon the track after adjustment, a belt in the conveyer adapted to run in either direction, mechanism for driving the belt comprising a series of three pul- 7 In mechanism of the character described,

a conveyer-body located above the receptacles to be filled with grain, a track for carrying the said conveyer-body along which the latter is adapted to run, a belt within the conveyerbody the upper stretch of which carries the grain, a series of pulleys for engaging and driving the lower stretch of said belt, means for imparting movement to the pulleys, and other means for reversing the direction of movement thereof for the purposes set forth and described.

8. In mechanism of the character described, a conveyer-body located above the receptacles to be filled with grain, a track for carrying the conveyer and along which the same is adapted to run in either direction, locking means for preventing movement of said conveyer-body when located, a belt within the conveyer-body the upper stretch of which carries the grain, a seriesof pulleys for engaging and driving the lower stretch of said belt and means for reversing the direction of movement thereof all for the purposes set forth and described.

9. In mechanism of the character described, the conveyer Gr located above the bins to be filled with grain, the track I upon which the conveyer is mounted, a belt K within the conveyer, a series of pulleys P, Q. R beneath the conveyer for driving the belt, a gear S on the same shaft with the pulley Q, the gears T and U in continual engagement with the gear S, the shaft V on which T and U are loosely mounted, the sleeve-clutch W on said shaft,

presence of two witnesses.

EMIL M. KRAMER. Witnesses:

'IUNIs YOUNG, J OSEPH'A. ROSENBERG. 

